This is one of the most difficult things to overcome when you want to make this life change. Your mind is the hardest thing to keep convinced and focused. Negativity in any form can set you back on your journey.
I struggle with this myself and my passion makes it so difficult to keep things positive. The more your eyes are opened, the more frustrated and annoyed you will become with society. Instead of becoming the angry hippie, you really have to focus on the idea that you want freedom and they deserve theirs. Much easier said than done, I know.

This life change has been 7 years in the making already and that is how long it has taken me to completely wrap my mind around the idea and open my eyes completely. It has been a process of strange encounters, disappointments and ignorant conversations to create this vision for me.

The moment I stood in the grocery store and really want to eat healthy but could only afford a box of mac n’ cheese, I thought…well that’s dumb. Another moment when my son was struggling so bad in school that the staff was demanding medication be administered. They then questioned my ability to parent my child because I asked to do my own research and find alternatives. As my kids played outside, people would stop and scream nasty comments like “You must want your kids raped!” What? The time I planted a garden in my back yard of my duplex and my neighbor said, “This looks like crap, where are all the flowers?” I responded, “I am growing veggies so that I can slowly stop spending so much on produce at stores!” She looked at me with the craziest look and said, “Well, that seems like a waste of time when you can just go get it.” Her opinion was as if farming or gardening was beneath her. How could you even live without people to grow your food, lady? You are the one that’s living under a rock! I can mention hundreds more of instances like these. 

As my passion for freedom grew, the more I was regarded as someone rebellious or against the grain. This only drove me more mad with disappointment in society! I am the strange one because I don’t trust a pharmaceutical company who makes money when I am sick? I am the crazy one because I want to make my own products instead of trusting some factory or plant to keep the best interest of MY children in mind when they are making smart business decisions to cut costs?

Passion is something that will keep you motivated but you have to control your thoughts from becoming negative. Like I said, I struggle with this terribly.

Expect people to not understand. Expect people to laugh and make jokes about hygiene. Expect people to judge your ability to make this a reality. Expect them to hope you fail.

I get so carried away in trying to save the world and convince them this life is better. It is crucial that you live it and leave it. It is expected of society to be ignorant. Let’s be real. Most of society today has no desire for anything else. They are content. They have no survival skills and no interest in learning them. Let’s be even more realistic and go as far to say that the off grid living has become the alternative lifestyle (oddly enough) and the comforts of this new world will only become more prevalent. Keeping the mind set is important to keep on track but keep it separate from our desire to explain yourself. Live the life and people will see on their own.

I found out the hard way that when you are sharing your vision with people, it can be discouraging for a couple different reasons. The first thing to understand is that they will be genuinely interested and have a million questions you won’t be able to answer at first. This may come off as an attempt to convince you not to do it or to challenge your ability. I would get upset knowing I had done all this research and someone sitting in front of their TV with dominoes pizza and a bud light is telling me I don’t know what I am talking about. You will also get discouraged because no matter how thought out your explanation or how thought out your plan, there will be the skeptics who will just plain mock your ideas. Either way, keep it positive! Keep your mind fresh and open. You will be just a close minded otherwise.

Failure is your fault. No one but you can make this journey and it all starts with your mind.